41 Short Stories via Computers in EFL Classrooms: An Empirical Study for Reading and Writing Skills Adnan Yilmaz Dicle University ABSTRACT The present empirical study scrutinizes the use of short stories via computer technologies in teaching and learning English language. The objective of the study is two-fold: to examine how short stories could be used through computer programs in teaching and learning English and to collect data about students’ perceptions of this technique via semi-structured face-to-face interview. In the scope of the present study, three different computer programs (Jing, Screencast, and Instant Messaging) and three short stories (A Dead Woman’s Secret by Guy de Maupassant, Eveline by James Joyce, Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway) were used in order to shed light on the aforementioned objectives. During this approximately three-month long study, 35 ELT students studying at a state university in Turkey carried out a number of pre- reading/writing, while-reading/writing, and post-reading/writing activities and tasks suggested by different scholars in the field. The content analysis of the 12 semi-structured interviews revealed that the implementation of short stories through computers in language classrooms have some very positive effects on learners’ language learning process: drawing attention, raising curiosity, cooperation and giving/receiving feedback, improving reading and writing skills, and increasing L2 motivation. INTRODUCTION The use of computers and literary texts (referring to short stories in the present study) for improving reading and writing skills in English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) has drawn robust attention in recent years. In the light of this interest, a variety of tasks and activities have been devised in order to incorporate these two tools in second/foreign language (L2) teaching and learning. It is salient through the studies conducted that short stories (Erkaya, 2005; Collie & Slater, 2001; Birlik & Salli-Copur, 2007) and computers (Zhao & Frank, 2003; Lee, 2006; Hult, Kalaja, Lassila, & Lehtisalo, 1990) can each create an encouraging and motivating atmosphere for ESL and EFL learners to better improve their reading and writing skills. However, there has been limited attention to the integration of short stories into computers in teaching reading and writing skills. The present article introduces some tasks and activities (pre-, while-, and post- reading/writing) designed around the use of three computer programs (Jing, Screencast, and Instant Messaging Programs) with three short stories (A Dead Woman’s Secret by Guy de Maupassant, Eveline by James Joyce, Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway) in order to teach reading and writing skills. The article also presents learners’ reactions toward this new technique via semi-structured interviews conducted with 12 students.
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41
Short Stories via Computers in EFL Classrooms: An Empirical Study
for Reading and Writing Skills
Adnan Yilmaz
Dicle University
ABSTRACT
The present empirical study scrutinizes the use of short stories via computer technologies in
teaching and learning English language. The objective of the study is two-fold: to examine how
short stories could be used through computer programs in teaching and learning English and to
collect data about students’ perceptions of this technique via semi-structured face-to-face
interview. In the scope of the present study, three different computer programs (Jing, Screencast,
and Instant Messaging) and three short stories (A Dead Woman’s Secret by Guy de Maupassant,
Eveline by James Joyce, Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway) were used in order to
shed light on the aforementioned objectives. During this approximately three-month long study,
35 ELT students studying at a state university in Turkey carried out a number of pre-
reading/writing, while-reading/writing, and post-reading/writing activities and tasks suggested
by different scholars in the field. The content analysis of the 12 semi-structured interviews
revealed that the implementation of short stories through computers in language classrooms
have some very positive effects on learners’ language learning process: drawing attention,
raising curiosity, cooperation and giving/receiving feedback, improving reading and writing
skills, and increasing L2 motivation.
INTRODUCTION
The use of computers and literary texts (referring to short stories in the present study) for
improving reading and writing skills in English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) has
drawn robust attention in recent years. In the light of this interest, a variety of tasks and activities
have been devised in order to incorporate these two tools in second/foreign language (L2)
teaching and learning. It is salient through the studies conducted that short stories (Erkaya, 2005;
Collie & Slater, 2001; Birlik & Salli-Copur, 2007) and computers (Zhao & Frank, 2003; Lee,
2006; Hult, Kalaja, Lassila, & Lehtisalo, 1990) can each create an encouraging and motivating
atmosphere for ESL and EFL learners to better improve their reading and writing skills.
However, there has been limited attention to the integration of short stories into computers in
teaching reading and writing skills.
The present article introduces some tasks and activities (pre-, while-, and post-
reading/writing) designed around the use of three computer programs (Jing, Screencast, and
Instant Messaging Programs) with three short stories (A Dead Woman’s Secret by Guy de
Maupassant, Eveline by James Joyce, Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway) in order
to teach reading and writing skills. The article also presents learners’ reactions toward this new
technique via semi-structured interviews conducted with 12 students.
42
A SHORT BACKGROUNG TO THE STUDY
Literary Texts for Developing L2 Reading and Writing Skills
Literary texts serve quite effectively to improve learners’ reading skills and vocabulary
knowledge. For example, a study conducted by Lao and Krashen (2000) at a university in Hong
Kong found that students who read literary texts showed more improvement in vocabulary and
reading than those who read nonliterary texts. In another study by Tse (1996), students were
assigned two novels in addition to four other novels that they decided on as a group. No direct
language instruction was done and the class time was devoted to discussions about the books and
reading strategies. Students showed positive reactions to this application because they reported
an improvement in their confidence and an increase in their enthusiasm about continuing to read
in English.
There are also a number of studies that highlight the positive impact of the use of short
stories on writing skills. For instance, Murdoch (2002) contends that low-level learners can be
asked to write short dialogues or describe one of the characters in the story in order to foster their
writing skills. He also asserts that by using short stories, intermediate-level language learners can
write some dialogues and act them out, allowing them to augment their writing skills. As for
learners with a high language proficiency level, he suggests that they can be assigned more
complex writing tasks such as writing a new ending to the story. In a similar vein, literary texts
can also be used to teach language learners how to write a text from different perspectives by
utilizing different registers in their tasks. For example, in a study by Birlik and Salli-Copur
(2007), the learners were asked to write three different letters to (a) an advice column (the agony
aunt) of a well-known newspaper, (b) a friend, and (c) a lawyer from the view of a character in
the story, who asks for advice after her ex-fiancé is reported missing. With this particular
activity, learners had the opportunity to practice different registers by varying the people to
whom they wrote the letters, thus enabling learners to enhance their writing competence.
Computers for Developing L2 Reading and Writing Skills
Computers can have an enormous impact on reading skills through the vast array of
materials they provide for reading and in the way they present these materials. Using the
Internet, learners at any language level can get access to a huge number of authentic reading
texts to foster their reading skills. Computer software programs also enable reading texts to be
presented via a wide combination of multimedia aids such as sound, graphics, photographs,
animation, video, direct links and references to dictionaries or glossaries in order to enable better
comprehension (Kledecka-Nadera, 2001). Kledecka-Nadera further states that text manipulation
programs provide various activities for language learners, and these activities encourage learners
to develop an insight into the target language by helping them become actively involved in
reading texts. All of these computer technologies advance learners’ reading skills by allowing the
target language to come alive to learners who perceive it as a distant abstraction (Warschauer &
Healey, 1998).
Computers contribute to writing skills substantially as well because they offer various
software programs that can be utilized either asynchronously or synchronously for improving
writing skills (Ferris, 2002). For instance, since e-mails provide learners with a stress-free
environment in order to practice what they have learned in the classroom, they increase learners’